Taiwan has taken delivery of the last of sixty Mirage fighter jets it ordered from France in 1992.

At a ceremony at Hsinchu air basesouth of the capital, Taipei, the air force commander-in-chief, general Chen Chao-min, said the deal worth more than two-and-a-half billion dollars was part of Taiwan's crucial task of building a mighty force to deter any mainland Chinese invasion.

The military say that the Mirage contingent, together with one-hundred-and-fifty F-16 fighters ordered from the United States, will give Taiwan air superiority over China for years to come.

Beijing has repeatedly protested at European and US arms sales to Taiwan threatening to invade what it considers a renegade province if Taiwan proclaims formal independence.

Following the Mirage deal, Beijing ordered the closure of the French consulate in Guangzhou; it was only reopened last year.